Newly signed San Francisco Giants outfielder Jung Hoo Lee tried on his cap and uniform jersey at his press conference. Lee signed a six year deal and met with the media on Fri Dec 15, 2023 at Oracle Park (AP News photo)

By Stephen Ruderman

The Giants made the signing of Korean outfielder Jung-hoo Lee official today at a press conference at Oracle Park.

The Giants signed Lee to a six-year, $132-million deal, with an opt-out option for Lee after four years. The move came after the Giants came short of signing Shohei Ohtani, and lost him to their archrival Dodgers.

Lee played for the Nexen/Kiwoom heroes in the KBO in South Korea for seven seasons, from 2017 to 2023. He was posted on Dec, 4, and the Giants came to an agreement with him on Tuesday. After Lee passed his physical yesterday, the deal was made official.

The addition of Lee is a big upgrade for the Giants, both on the field and in the clubhouse. Lee has personality to him, which not only lacked in the Giants’ clubhouse in recent seasons, but has lacked amongst players in general in recent years.

Lee jokingly asked if he looked handsome, while putting on his Giants uniform, which had the number 51, that of his idol, and one of the greatest players of all-time, Ichiro Suzuki. Despite being Korean, Lee was born in Japan, because his father, Lee Jong-beom was playing for the Chunichi Dragons of the NPB in Japan.

He was the MVP of the KBO League in 2022, and has a career-.340 average. He is also a contact hitter, who puts the ball in play. Lee’s style of hitting is contrary to that of the power-hitting superstars in high demand today, and it also is a style of hitting that is perfectly suited for Oracle Park.

Oracle Park, which in its 24 years, has been one of the most pitcher-friendly parks in Baseball, where pitching, defense and contact hitting are crucial. It is a philosophy that has been mostly cast aside by the analytics people who run baseball front offices today.

However, it was that philosophy of Baseball that won the Giants three world championships in five years in 2010, 2012 and 2014, and it has been making a slow comeback amongst a few teams over the last two seasons.

The 2022 Cleveland Guardians, the youngest team in Baseball that season, got to Game 5 of the American League Division Series with small-ball hitting; and the 2023 Arizona Diamondbacks improbably won the National League Pennant and got to the World Series using that very style of baseball.

The Giants continue to look to add, as they could be seen as a landing spot for 2023 National League Cy Young Winner Blake Snell, and other free agents.